


Plume Valley

by orphan_account



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Crushes, Dreams, Fluff, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 05:17:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21048920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Koga awakens in a stir from a strange dream. He spends the rest of the day in a whirlwind of confusing emotions that threaten to consume him. Inspired by a Windows 96 album of the same name.





	Plume Valley

The forest was quiet. A few leaves were still clinging desperately to their branches. The leaves that covered the forest floor were wet from a previous rain. They felt cold against Koga’s bare feet. A thick fog crawled low to the ground and circled around his ankles.

A single crow cawed in the distance, its sudden, harsh cry making his skin crawl. It sounded desperate, as if beckoning to him from somewhere deep within the forest. He listened. It cried out again a moment later, and he followed.

He walked along what was left of a path, being careful not to trip on the gnarled roots that reached out to him from below. A cold breeze swept through the forest and he shivered. The branches on the trees swayed and creaked and the forest was quiet again.

His search eventually led him to a massive lake that stretched out in every direction, its water murky and dark and uninviting. A strange, vaguely human-shaped figure stood idly on the pier. It was covered head to toe in feathers, its plumage a deep shade of green.

A sudden pang of anxiety surged through him. He took a step towards the figure. It didn’t move. His heart was pounding in his chest. He swallowed hard before uttering a quiet, “Kagehira?”

Koga awoke with a start. He sprang upright in his bed, mouth agape and chest heaving. His shirt was soaked through with sweat.

_What the fuck was that?_

He closed his eyes, the image of the figure’s dark plumage still fresh in his mind. It made his chest swell in a way he couldn’t describe. He took a deep breath. Then another.

Leon slept undisturbed beside him. Koga watched his back closely as it rose and fell in unison with his breaths, and he calmed down a little. He checked his phone. The alarm he had set would go off in about ten minutes. Barely enough time to get some more sleep, even if just a bit. No new messages. He sighed and fell back down on the bed.

His alarm blared a few minutes later. He groaned and shut it off. Sunlight had begun to creep in through the blinds. A single crow cawed outside.

The memory of the dream came rushing back to him and his chest tightened. His face felt hot, and he didn’t understand why. It was frustrating. The dream had clearly upset him. Or perhaps he just had a fever? Yes, that seemed much more reasonable. The thought eased his nerves a little. He could just skip class today, and practice, and...

No, he frowned, he couldn’t.

He had agreed to help with the sound for a children’s play of all things. What kind of unit agrees to a children’s play, anyway? Valkyrie, always doing whatever the hell they want, that’s who. He sighed and got out of bed.

He tossed his sleep clothes in the hamper and threw on his uniform. Leon was waiting for him by the front door.

“Yeah, yeah.” He grabbed the scarf that was hanging up by the door and threw that on too. He stepped into his slippers and took Leon’s leash off its hook, and he went wild. Koga laughed.

“You that excited to freeze your nuts off?” Leon yipped in response and Koga laughed again.

A rush of cold air hit Koga in the face as soon as he stepped outside. He squeezed his eyes shut and fought hard to keep his footing. Leon seemed unaffected, diving for the stairs and tugging furiously at his leash.

He shut the door behind him and flew down the stairs, saying good morning to a few of his neighbors on the way down. Leon quickly found his usual patch of grass and pressed his nose to the ground.

A crow cried out and Koga jumped. He looked up. A murder of crows were huddled close together on the telephone line above him. He counted them. Eight.

There was some kind of rhyme associated with crows, the numbers were supposed to mean something. One for death, two for luck, something like that, he wasn’t really paying attention at the time. Mika probably knew it by heart. His brows furrowed and he shook his head. The ground began to sway beneath him. His head was a jumbled mess.

_I was fine yesterday._

He closed his eyes and recalled the dream he had had. The deep yet striking shade of green of Mika’s locks. The weight of him in his bed beside him. His slow, steady breathing…

Leon tugged at his leash again and Koga came back to his senses.

“All done?” He looked at Leon expectantly and the dog responded with another chipper bark. Koga bent over and scooped him up in his arms. His fur was, surprisingly, still warm.

“I’m starving,” he said. “You starving? Yeah? Let’s eat.”

By the time Koga made it to school, the sun had risen a little higher. The temperature didn’t seem to change by much, and it actually seemed colder somehow.

The classroom was a little better. Everyone was huddled together in groups and complaining about how damn cold it was. He resisted the urge to count them. Mika’s desk was empty.

“Oi,” Koga nudged the back of Ritsu’s chair with his shoe. “Where’s Kagehira?”

Ritsu let out a huge yawn and shivered. Without even looking over at Mika’s desk, he shrugged and said, “How should I know?” before putting his head back down on his desk.

Koga sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. His heart had begun to pound in his chest again. He tried to ignore it.

“Oh, Mika-chan! There you are!” Koga spun around and froze.

Mika stepped in and slid the door closed behind him. Half of his face was hidden behind a thick scarf. Arashi said something and Mika laughed. He didn’t have his bag with him.

His mismatched eyes caught Koga’s and his eyes lit up. He walked up to him and flashed a bright smile, Arashi right by his side.

“Mornin’, Oogami-kun!”

Koga swallowed. His mouth was dry and his hands had begun to shake a little. He shoved them into his pockets and tried not to make it obvious. He was just cold, that’s all.

_Just act cool._

“Yeah, mornin’.” _Nailed it._ He shuffled awkwardly in front of them, hoping they wouldn’t notice just how hard he was struggling to keep his composure. Having a normal conversation at this point felt damn near impossible. He wasn’t even sure what to say next.

“Um...” Mika spoke up again, this time a little more quietly. He nervously pressed his pointer fingers together. His nails were painted a glossy shade of black, which had already begun to chip. He had a tiny yellow bandaid wrapped around his pinky. “Listen, I hate to have to keep askin’ for favors of you left an’ right like this, but do ya think you could meet me in the music room after practice?”

Koga blinked. He parted his lips slightly, taking longer than what was necessary to process the question. “The music room...?” He squinted, picturing the room in his head. “Oh, uh, I mean. Yeah, sure.”

“Hey, are you alright?” Arashi had a worried look on her face. “Your face is all red...”

“Huh? Yeah, I’m fine.” Mika had a worried look on his face now, too.

“Are you sure you don’t have a fever or something?” Arashi reached a hand out and Koga clicked his tongue before swatting it away with a huff.

“I said I’m fine!” He barked, his shoulders tensing up. Arashi lowered her hand. He avoided making eye contact with either of them. “I said I’d meet you in the music room later, right? I’m a man of my word, so I’ll be there, okay?”

“’Kay!” Mika smiled a toothy smile. He knew better than to push his luck, especially with a grumpy guy like Koga. Arashi shrugged, deciding it’d be best to just drop the subject entirely.

“Oh, how manly of you, Koga-chan. A girl could end up falling for you someday, you know?” Arashi pressed a hand to her cheek and sighed deeply. “Although, you aren’t really my type...”

“Yeah, yeah.” Koga turned away from them and slumped down into his desk. His heart was racing.

The groups dispersed soon after and eventually everyone was sitting at their desks. Once he had calmed down a little, Koga looked up to see Ritsu smirking at him from across the room. Koga glared and mouthed an irritated “_What?_” at him.

Ritsu turned back around, that same smug smile still spread across his face.

The rest of the day went by rather quickly. Way too quickly if you’d asked Koga. He was nothing more than a ball of nerves at this point, leaning against the back of the music room’s couch and tapping his foot impatiently. He checked his phone. Nothing. He folded his arms over his chest.

Everything they’d need for the play was sitting on the floor right in front of him. It wasn’t much, just a couple speakers. Mika had said he’d bring the music with him. It was a silent play save for the music that’d be accompanying Mika while he was on stage. Performance art, he’d called it. Koga didn’t really get it.

He checked his phone again. Still nothing. Not that he expected someone like Mika to ditch him entirely, the thought still made his chest ache for some reason.

Just when Koga thought about calling him, Mika came bursting through the door, breathing heavily.

“Sorry... for bein’... so late...” He said between pants.

Koga unfolded his arms and waited for him to catch his breath. He took one deep breath and exhaled.

“Did you run all the way here from the Amazon or somethin’?”

“No, I was just tryin’ to hurry up an’ finish my costume for the play.” He explained. “Oshi-san said he’d bring it to the auditorium for me and told me to skedaddle. Were you waitin’ for long?”

“Nah, not really. I just got here.” He lied.

“Oh, that’s good. I was real worried I’d upset you or somethin’, even after you’d been so nice to meet an’ all.” He punctuated the end of his sentence with a nervous little chuckle.

“Don’t worry about it.” Koga was still having a hard time looking Mika in the eye. He wordlessly bent down and grabbed the speakers, one in each hand.

“Let me help!” Mika went for the handle and his fingers lightly brushed against Koga’s hand.

Koga gasped and jumped back, letting go of the speaker and dropping it on his foot. He gritted his teeth and inhaled sharply before letting out a loud “Fuck!”

Mika was panicking, his eyes wide. “I’m sorry, Oogami-kun!” He said as his arms flailed around wildly. Not knowing what else to do, he bent over and lifted the speaker off of Koga’s foot. It was heavier than he thought it’d be, and ended up dropping it on Koga’s foot again.

He squeezed his eye shut and swore again. Tears had begun to well up in his eyes. He wanted to yell at Mika, to scold him profusely. Mika was sputtering apologies left and right. Tears had begun to well up in his eyes, too.

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry, Oogami-kun! I didn’t mean to! I’m sorry!” He was becoming more and more frantic with each apology. Soon he was blubbering like a child, sniveling and sobbing uncontrollably.

Koga’s foot hurt like crazy, but a painful lump formed in his throat when he saw Mika cry. There was a pretty good chance his foot was broken, but like hell we would bail on Mika for a trip to the infirmary. Especially not right now. His pride simply wouldn’t allow it.

He set the other speaker down with a huff and turned to face Mika. “Hey, don’t cry,” his voice was soft. It was the voice he’d only used in the most dire of situations, a voice which he used only around Leon and crying children.

“That hurt like hell,” he admitted. “But I ain’t mad at you or anything, okay?”

“You’re not?” He sniffed.

“I wanna be,” he said as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and lightly dabbed at Mika’s cheeks. “But I’m not. Now pull yourself together and get to the auditorium, okay? You don’t want to keep that fussy club leader of yours waitin’, do ya?”

Trying to quickly straighten himself out, Mika sniffed hard one more time for good measure and rubbed his sleeve across his nose. An action he’d executed probably about a million times before. Koga offered him the handkerchief and when Mika took it, he tousled his hair. Mika laughed and thanked him before turning and running out the door.

By the time Koga made it to the auditorium, it was completely packed. Every seat was filled either by a loud child or their tired parents. He made a disgruntled noise and ran backstage with the speakers in hand.

He saw Mika behind the curtains and his heart skipped a beat. Feathers. Deeply saturated, inky green feathers clung tightly together on the cape he wore. Koga’s lips parted slightly, his eyes wide. Mika turned around and he nearly dropped the speaker on his foot again.

“Oogami-kun!” His eyes lit up. They were still red from crying. “Whaddaya think?! Oshi-san made it just for me! It’s perfect, right?” He did a little twirl, showing it off to a speechless Koga.

“Yeah,” he said finally. “It looks great.”


End file.
